A wind energy company in Nova Scotia with the backing of local First Nations has secured $240 million in financing to construct onshore wind farms and an associated green hydrogen project that aims to be the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada.

Trent Vichie, CEO of EverWind Fuels, said the financing from New York-based investment manager Nuveen Infrastructure Credit will be used to advance work on the first phase of wind turbines that will eventually power a hydrogen and ammonia plant in Richmond County, Cape Breton. Vichie says EverWind has not yet signed up a customer for the hydrogen, but Germany has shown interest in Canadian exports.

“We’re excited because it’s an institutional investor, who’s extremely experienced in the space, investing in this Phase 1,” Vichie said in an interview Monday about Nuveen. “And so getting this thing to financial close this year and starting to build — it means 100 long-term skilled jobs, 500 construction jobs (and) over $1 billion in contracts and procurement opportunities in Nova Scotia.”

Vichie says Nuveen, which manages a portfolio worth US$1.4 trillion, is providing “structured financing,” a complex financial instrument used to manage credit risk. Vichie says the financing has “debt- and equity-like characteristics” but declined to be more specific.

EverWind says Phase 1 includes four separate wind turbine projects around the province that together will have capacity to produce more than 650 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 200,000 homes. The turbines will relay power through the provincial power grid to EverWind’s Point Tupper hydrogen and ammonia project in Richmond County, the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada. The plan is for the first wind energy to flow in 2028 with the hydrogen plant to come online a few years later.

The first phase of the project is projected to produce about 200,000 tonnes of clean ammonia a year. Ammonia is the most common way to ship hydrogen long distance. The second phase, which will include an additional wind farm and a dedicated transmission line, could add another 800,000 tonnes of ammonia per year.

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An Indigenous consortium led by Cape Breton’s Membertou First Nation holds 51 per cent ownership in the first phase of the wind portfolio. The Paqtnkek and Potlotek First Nations are also partners. “This financing marks a significant step forward in delivering clean energy projects that Indigenous communities are helping lead and shape,” Membertou Chief Terry Paul said in a statement.

“It signals confidence in the strength of the partnership, the quality of the work completed to date and the long-term vision behind these developments. For Membertou, participation at this level is about creating enduring economic opportunity while ensuring projects are developed with care, accountability and respect for Mi’kma’ki (traditional lands).”

EverWind says it’s planning more than $2 billion in investment on the first phase of the project. Vichie says the company has begun clearing land on the largest wind farm — the 47-turbine Windy Ridge project about 30 kilometres northwest of Truro, N.S.

In January, the European Union committed 200 million euros to support the production of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives in Canada, saying the money will unlock matching funds from the Canadian government for fuels that would be exported to Germany. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau and former German chancellor Olaf Scholz signed a joint declaration of intent to work together on hydrogen in western Newfoundland in 2022 as a way to lessen the European country’s dependence on Russian energy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Auctions for Canadian hydrogen suppliers seeking rights to supply Germany are scheduled for 2027 with up to 300 megawatts of capacity on offer. The hydrogen will then be auctioned off to German buyers. The EU says that much fuel could mean almost 2.5 million fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Hydrogen projects in Atlantic Canada have not been without their challenges. Last month, the Newfoundland and Labrador government said it was owed more than $34 million in land reserve fees by several companies that had hoped to build wind-powered hydrogen operations. The government decided not to renew land reserves for three companies: EverWind, World Energy GH2, and Toqlukuti’k Wind and Hydrogen. Vichie said Monday that EverWind is still in discussions with the government on the matter.

World Energy GH2’s project was in partnership with CFFI Ventures, an investment firm run by seafood magnate John Risley. CFFI announced last month that it had submitted a plan to Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court to transfer its assets to a new owner in an effort to arrange its debt and become financially sustainable. Court documents show the company owes more than US$776 million. World Energy GH2 has since filed for creditor protection.

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Ontario and Nova Scotia have signed an agreement that will let residents in both provinces buy alcohol directly from local producers in either jurisdiction.

The new deal flows from a broader framework agreed to by several provinces last year to try to reduce or do away with internal Canadian trade barriers altogether.

Canadian provinces have various restrictive rules around the sale of alcohol that make it difficult for customers to buy outside of their territory.

In Ontario, for example, alcohol must be bought through the LCBO and direct shipments from other provinces are forbidden.

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The agreement signed between Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Nova Scotia counterpart Tim Houston will abolish those barriers and allow for people to order direct from local breweries, wineries and distillers “in the coming weeks.”

It will allow people to purchase alcohol directly from other provinces without going through provincial agencies. Someone living in Ontario, for example, could order Nova Scotia wine directly from a small producer on the East Coast.

Both leaders hailed the agreement.

“Ontario is leading the way to unlock free trade within Canada. Our agreement means Nova Scotia residents can conveniently purchase any of their favourite Ontario craft beers, wines and more, while Ontario residents will be able to buy the very best Nova Scotia has to offer,” Ford said in a statement.

Houston said the deal was a “stepping stone” that would let alcohol makers in his province access the much larger Ontario market.

With the agreement now signed, both provinces will begin going through the process of authorizing sales from a competing jurisdiction.

The government has not indicated a date on which those changes will be formalized.

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Nova Scotia Finance Minister John Lohr is set to deliver the provincial budget today for the new fiscal year.

Residents can expect to see spending cuts, which will likely result in service cuts as well.

Some cuts have already started as the government announced last week it was closing three provincial museums as well as several tourist information centres.

Lohr asked all government departments in December to recommend ways to reach a 10 per cent rollback of programs and grants, though said it was unlikely all suggestions would be implemented.

Nova Scotia originally estimated a $700-million deficit, but that climbed to $1.3 billion in December.

In January, Premier Tim Houston said it had climbed to $1.4 billion.

N.S. opposition challenge PCs to sit for more than 8 days

As the budget is set to be delivered, Becky Druhan, Nova Scotia’s former justice minister who quit the governing Progressive Conservatives in the fall over differences with party leadership, hopes the session of the legislature that begins Monday is longer than the last one, which was only eight days.

Nova Scotia’s legislature doesn’t have a calendar, and its members sit at the whim of the party in power. Druhan, an Independent, said last year’s short session that wrapped in early October contributed to a “crisis of confidence” in the Tory government, which has a commanding majority.

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“Eight days is not enough to do what we need to do, to voice our opinions, to voice our community’s experiences, to debate the legislation and the issues that are important to Nova Scotians,” she said.

As elected representatives return to the legislature from their constituencies, the government has major issues to address, including health care and affordability. And the official Opposition NDP says that can only happen if members are given enough time to ask questions and debate with the governing party.

“At the end of the day, this government has become expert at not engaging with Nova Scotians around hard questions, including in the legislative arena,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said in an interview.

“It’s a travesty. It is an insult to Nova Scotians that this is how we move legislation through the House,” she said of the recent eight-day sitting.

It’s still unclear how many days politicians will sit in this new session. Premier Tim Houston’s office said in an emailed statement the House sits “as long as the opposition decides to debate the legislation.”

“Our government believes in a healthy democracy and when our MLAs are here in the city, they are ready to do the work,” spokesperson Catherine Klimek said in an email.

Chender also took aim at Houston’s government over its ballooning deficit and reliance on over-budget spending, which doesn’t involve a debate or vote in the legislature. Houston’s government has spent $6.7 billion outside the budget process since the 2020-21 fiscal year, including $1.6 billion in 2024-25.

“They’ve spent a billion dollars over budget every single year, it’s no surprise that we’re in a deficit now. And the fact that they have not been able to make good on any of those promises calls into question the choices they’ve been making,” she said, referring to the government’s commitments to improve access to health care and increase affordability.

The NDP and Liberals have both announced plans to introduce legislation to create a budget officer, a role that exists in some other provinces and at the federal level, in order to increase accountability around government spending.

—with files from The Canadian Press’ Lyndsay Armstrong

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